Welcome to the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa
Representing the Westchester, Playa del Rey & Playa Vista Communities

Special News, Events, & Alerts click to view... If you see graffiti in the community call Pacific Graffiti Solutions 310-204-2749 for quick removal. They are contracted by the city and the Neighborhood Council to remove graffiti in our area. The NCWP election results are in.  See results at:  http://cityclerk.lacity.org/election/ncdocs/Westchester%20Playa%20Unofficial%20Results.pdf CLICK HERE  Planning and Land Use Library and Tools Read Full Story...    CDO Committee   The ad hoc Community Design Overlay (CDO) committee of the Neighborhood Council's Planning and Land Use Committee (PLUC) has been charged with soliciting community input on the "look and feel" of Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey.  This team held a community meeting to gather your feedback to provide to the City's Planning Department. Read Full Story...

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Join us for our next meeting on July 6 when we have guest speaker Wendy Greuel, Los Angeles City Controller to talk about her role in controlling the city’s cash flow, paying the city’s bills and alerting the council and mayor to any financial shortfalls.

The messages coming from City Hall concerning the budget deficit the past few months have been confusing. It’s been a roller-coaster ride, fluctuating from warnings about the city’s inability to balance this year’s budget, to the need for thousands of layoffs, to slightly more optimistic revenue projections, with some suggesting that the city is out of the woods. The deficit is real, steps need to be taken to address it and, given our current course, our cash flow needs will not be able to be met without transferring funds from the reserve to the general fund.

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Westchester Municipal Building Community Room at 7166 Manchester Avenue in Westchester. The public is encouraged to attend.

Wendy Greuel was sworn in as City Controller of Los Angeles on July 1, 2009, the second woman to be elected to a citywide office in the City’s history. She previously served for seven years as the L.A. City Councilmember representing the Second District. She also spent five years working in the Corporate Affairs Department of DreamWorks SKG and served with Cabinet Secretary Henry Cisneros as the Field Operations Officer for Southern California for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Nominate Someone for the Star of the Neighborhood Award
The Stars of the Neighborhood Award is sponsored by the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa, and its purpose is to identify and honor those unsung heroes of our community who quietly, persistently and without fanfare voluntarily perform good deeds that serve the needs of their neighbors and/or the community.

You are invited to nominate a person whose efforts fit this criteria. The nominee must live in Westchester, Playa del Rey or Playa Vista. Nominations will be evaluated by an ad hoc committee of the Neighborhood Council, and the winning honoree(s) will be honored at Westchester’s annual Fourth of July Parade. Nomination Form Please submit by June 18, 2010.

Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa Meeting in a Minute Meeting of July 6, 2010 Here are some highlights from the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa's board of directors meeting of July 6, 2010:   At this meeting, the NCWP Board: Heard from City Controller, Wendy Greuel. Ms. Greuel gave an update on the City's budget and explained how her office conducts audits of City departments to help save the City money. Some of her recent audits have shown that the city was paying vendors too early. Had a visit from State Assemblymember Steven Bradford was in town and stopped by to introduce himself to the NCWP and the community. Heard a presentation on the State Enterprise Zone, which will now include the business communities of Westchester. Received an update on the Crenshaw/LAX Metro Project. There are four new proposed locations for the maintenance facility - three in Westchester and one in Inglewood. http://www.metro.net/projects/crenshaw_corridor/   The board unanimously voted to pay the LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce $540.20 for the city fees that were placed on the Chamber for the 4th of July parade. The board welcomed John Casey to the Residential District Seat 9.  Residential District Seat 13 (Manchester Square) remains open. Committee assignments were handed out. Among the important community items discussed were: Chad Molnar, LAX-Community Liaison, the LAWA Advisory Board will begin meeting again and will include representation from decision makers. Comments on the interim safety runway are due this Friday. Nate Kaplan, Field Deputy, informed that library hours will be reduced in the community. There will also be a "Day at the Park,"on July 26h to open to the new pool at Westchester Park. Scott Olson, G&M Oil Company, informed that the company is in the process of purchasing the Chevron Station on Manchester and LA Tijera. He will present at PLUC this month.   The next NCWP board meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 in the Community Room of the Municipal Building at 7166 Manchester Avenue.  You may access the agenda for this meeting by visiting http://www.ncwpdr.org/index.php?page=boardAgenda within 72 hours of the meeting.      Please Note:  The Meeting in a Minute is an unofficial record of the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa board meeting. The Official Record of the meeting is the minutes once approved by the NCWP Board.

Neighborhood Councils are designed to give all individuals: residents, business owners, property owners, renters, youth, non-profit providers and others a more effective way to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods. Through Neighborhood Councils, all stakeholders will have a better way to understand the issues that divide them, and find common solutions through the bonds of friendship and community. Those who are more organized will win.

The Neighborhood Council of Westchester/ Playa (NCWP) is governed by a board of directors elected by our community that meets monthly. NCWP’s goal is to increase public participation in government and advocate at City Hall and elsewhere for our community. Our Neighborhood Council has the ability to build our community and nourish the democratic spirit of individuals through shared values such as compassion, tolerance and equality.

Community Improvements
Since its inception, our Neighborhood Council has focused on doing what it can to improve our community. From projects that impact public safety to beautification efforts, the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa continues to make a difference. Over the past several months, we have approved the expenditure of thousands of dollars that have gone directly to benefit those who live in the area we serve.

Among those expenditures were:

• Funding to assist the Westchester Business
• Improvement District in lighting the trees along Sepulveda Boulevard;
• Funding to support the LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce’s Youth Summit that exposed local Middle
• School students to a variety of career opportunities and anti-drug and anti-gang messages;
• Funding to provide needed school supplies to students at local LAUSD elementary schools;
• Funding for the Westchester Senior Center to make repairs to its pool table and purchase a Wii-Fit system to encourage seniors to be more active;
• Funding for the repair of Little League field dugouts and assistance with the purchase of a tractor that will be used for field maintenance to benefit our local youth athletes;
• Funding for all three local Los Angeles Fire Department Stations (Nos. 5, 67 and 95) to make repairs, purchase furnishings, gym equipment, tools and more;
• Funding to support the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Area Explorers and DAPS (Deputy Auxiliary Police Service) programs, which provide local youth with law enforcement training, sporting accessories as well as extracurricular outings and competitive field trips;
• Funding for the purchase of tables and chairs for the LAPD break room as part of a community project that included getting the city to replace the broken-down cabinets and asbestos floor tiles and paint the walls; and
• Funding of the SafeTProof Earthquake trailer for the annual LAPD Open House.

Community Advocates
In addition to providing money for our community in various ways, the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa has also taken seriously its role as an advocate for our community. Whether it is advising our elected officials about where the community stands or taking the proverbial “bull by the horns” to help our community directly, NCWP has been successful. Among some of NCWP’s efforts to engage our community directly are the following:

• Organization of safety meetings focusing on burglary prevention with LAPD detectives and senior officers, as well as organizations of Earthquake and Disaster Preparedness meetings with LAFD;
• Organization of Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) classes twice a year to help local citizens be prepared in the event of an emergency affecting our community;
• Organization of a women’s self-defense class
• Organization of a Candidates Forum for candidates in the March 3, 2009 citywide election, where members of the public could meet and ask questions of those running for office.

Policy
On the policy side, NCWP has also taken an active role in advocating for the best interests of our community.

• NCWP demanded that an Environmental Impact Report be undertaken by developers trying to develop property at Toes Beach, Egret Park and the Westchester Bluffs.
• NCWP actively opposed Culver City’s Entrada office tower, and pushed the developers of the tower at Howard Hughes Center to reduce the proposed height of that building by six stories.
• NCWP has continued to be a strong community voice in opposition to airport expansion at every turn.
• NCWP also authored a proposed governance model for Westchester High School that would have given the community a larger say in how that school operates. And while that proposal was defeated by teachers at the school, NCWP continues to play a key role in improving our local schools.

We hope that your will get involved in the efforts of the Neighborhood Council so that, together, we can continue to improve our community.

Cyndi Hench
President

Crime Alert
Home burglaries have increased where the suspect has entered the residence through an unlocked door or open window. Read the Crime Alert. Please beware. In some areas there has been a high incidence of theft from vehicles, including stealing back seats of cars.Most of our vehicle break-ins occur when citizens leave items visible in the passenger compartment of the vehicle. Car Theft Alert.

 

Today our Neighborhood Council has 7696 registered stakeholders!

Neighborhood Council Newsletter Wendy Greuel Guest Speaker for July; Nominate a Star of the Neighborhood Newsletter Archive Looking for community services, bulletin boards, information, or contacts? Visit the neighborhood council Community Links Page